It’s Quiet Uptown

It’s Quiet Uptown Lyrics

[Verse 1]
There are moments that the words don't reach
There is suffering too terrible to name
You hold your child as tight as you can
Then push away the unimaginable
The moments when you're in so deep
Feels easier to just swim downAnd so they move uptown
And learn to live with the unimaginable
I spend hours in the garden
I walk alone to the store
And it's quiet uptown
I never liked the quiet before
I take the children to church on Sunday
A sign of the cross at the door
And I pray
That never used to happen before

[Chorus]
If you see him in the street walking by himself
Talking to himself, have pity
You would like it uptown, it's quiet uptown
He is working through the unimaginable
His hair has gone grey, he passes every day
They say he walks the length of the city
You knock me out, I fall apart
Can you imagine?

[Verse 2]
Look at where we are
Look at where we started
I know I don't deserve you
But hear me out, that would be enough
If I could spare his life
If I could trade his life for mine
He'd be standing here right now
And you would smile
And that would be enough
I don't pretend to know
The challenges we're facing
I know there's no replacing what we've lost
And you need time
But I'm not afraid
I know who I married
Just let me stay here by your side
And that would be enough

[Chorus]
If you see him in the street, walking by her side
Talking by her side, have pityDo you like it uptown? It's quiet uptown
He is trying to do the unimaginable
If you see him walking in the park, long after dark
Taking in the sights of the cityLook around, look around, look around
They are trying to do the unimaginable

[Chorus]
If you see him in the street, walking by her side
Talking by her side, have pity
Look around, look around
They are going through the unimaginable

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About “It’s Quiet Uptown”

A cover of “It’s Quiet Uptown” from Hamilton, this song describes the pain, suffering, and eventual forgiveness Alexander Hamilton and his wife, Eliza Hamilton, went through after the loss of their child, Philip.

But, being a part of the Hamilton Mixtape and not the official soundtrack, all references to characters have been taken out. Instead, the cover speaks to a more general sense of forgiveness, such that the emotional core is not the relationship between Alexander and Eliza, but the idea of this occurring in your own world. It removes the idea of loss from specifically Phillip’s death, to some sort of unbearable suffering.

What have the artists said about the song?

Clarkson says Hamilton mania hadn’t hit her hometown of Nashville when Atlantic Records chairman and CEO Craig Kallman sent her the song early one morning. She was shocked at its gravity: “I sent an email back to him with a lot of expletives,” she recalls. “I was so angry, because I was pregnant with my son, and it’s all about their son dying. I was a complete mess, but I was like, ‘It’s beautiful. I’ll try and do it, but I can’t promise you I can get through the dang thing.’” In the end, Clarkson triumphed, but she says, “You listen to a song and filter it how it affects your life, so it was so hard. It was literally the hardest thing I’ve ever done in the studio!”